Factors influencing the utilization of reproductive health services among somali women in Nakivale refugee camp, Isingiro district-Uganda.

Abstract

Background : Access to reproductive health services remains low with 50% of the 800 maternal deaths occurring around the world daily happening in Africa. On the other hand the report also indicated that 50% of African adolescent girls give birth before the age of 20 years which implies that they do not utilize contraceptive methods. Also as a cultural factor, 13 million girls in Africa have been forced in to marriage before the age of 18 years increases their risk of domestic violence, early child-bearing and persistent poverty (WHO, 2010). Furthermore, 4 million youths in Africa are infected with HIV/AIDS and 45% of women and girls above 15 years experiencing physical and sexual violence in their lives. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design involving the use of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A semi- structured interview questionnaire were used to collect data from 369 women living in Nakivale refugee camp. In this study multiple stage sampling were used.The camp was divided into Four zones. That is; East, West, South and North, corresponding to the administrative areas within the camp. The researcher then selected three zones and obtained a non-biased number of subjects through simple random sampling , the calculated sample size is divided by the three zones (369/3=123) and from each zone 123 respondents were interviewed to give an equal chance among the selected zones. Result: the utilization of reproductive health services among the respondents. Majority of the respondents, 263 (71%) reported not to have utilized reproductive health services. Only 106 (29%) reported that they had utilized reproductive health services of some kind. Conclusion: The proportion of women who utilize reproductive health care services in Nakivale Refugee camp was low with majority of women did not utilize these services. Among those who reported to utilize reproductive health care services, the most utilized service was antenatal care flowed by Voluntary counseling and testing of HIV and post-natal care. Other services utilized were treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and infections, collection of condoms and family planning services.